Building wall vent unit



March 15, 1955 G. 5. GRIFFIN BUILDING WALL VENT UNIT Filed Oct. 20, 1951United States Patent BUILDING WALL VENT UNIT Gordon S. Griffin,Rochester, Ind.

Application October 20, 1951, Serial No. 252,341

12 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) The present invention relates to a building wallvent unit, and is primarily concerned with the provision of a new andimproved device for opening the interior of a hollow building wall, orthe like, to communication with the atmosphere, while protecting thesame against direct admission of rain, snow, insects, or other foreignmatter. It is well understood that condensation ofWater vapor insidehollow building walls is a primary cause of blistering and peeling ofexterior paint thereon. It is rather widely agreed that suchcondensation results, in large part, if not entirely, from pressurechanges so that, if substantial increases in the pressure within suchwalls,

above the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere, can

be obviated, such deleterious condensation can be largely prevented,even without setting up any flow or circulation of air within the wall.

The primary object of the present invention, then, is to provide meansfor conveniently and effectively maintaining communication between theinterior .-',of such a wall and the surrounding atmosphere. A further?object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, highly effective,and substantially unobtrusive device which, when properly installed inconnection with such a walllwill maintain such desired communication,while yet effectively guarding against the direct entrance ofatmospheric precipitation' and against the entrance of insects to theinterior of the wall. 1-.-

Further objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention maybe embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made in the specificconstructions illustrated and described, so -long as the scope of theappended claims is not violatedi? Fig. 1 is a more or less diagrammaticillustration of.

a conventional house wall of the character here under consideration, theexternal surface of said houjse wall being conveniently illustrated as alap-board finish, and showing an embodiment of my invention mountedthere- Fig. 2 is a similar view, drawn to an enlarged scale, and showingone specific form of my invention;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a fragment offthe wall of Fig. 1 showing thepreferred form of preparation for installation of my vent unit;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing my prefer-f ed form of vent unit inplace;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of ventunit;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a perforated sheet metal shaink whichmay be used in one form of my invention; an

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing a further modified formof my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that, inFig. l, I have illustrated, in cross-section, a fragment of a hollowbuilding wall 11 defined by an inner surface and an outer surface 12.Lap-boards 13 finish the outer surface 12 in a conventional manner.

In order to vent the interior of the wall to the atmosphere, openings 14are bored, at suitably selected locations, through the surface 12, eachsuch opening being located adjacent the lower edge 15 of a lap-board,and a channel 16 is cut to lead unobstructedly from each opening 14through the lower edge 15 of the lap-board.

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According to the preferred form of my invention, a countersink 17 willthen be formed in the outer surface of the board 13, concentric with theopening 14 and substantially tangential with respect to the edge 15 ofthe selected lap-board. Now, a vent unit, indicated generally by thereference numeral 18, will be mounted in the opening 14 and countersink17 in the manner clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

A preferred form of such vent unit is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. Adiscoid head 19 is adapted to be seated in the countersink 17, fittingsnugly therein, and overlying the channel 16 to close that channel withrespect to the outer surface of the lap-board 13. A tubular shank 20 offoraminous material is supported upon, and projects concentrically andsubstantially perpendicularly from the inner surface of the head 19,being snugly received in the opening 14 and projecting into the hollowinterior of the building wall, in the manner most clearly illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2. The head 19 completely closes the outer end of the shank20, whose inner end is open; but it will be apparent that the channel 16com municates at one end with the foraminous wall of the shank 20 andcommunicates at its opposite end, through the lower edge 15 of thelap-board 13, with the external atmosphere. Thus, through the open innerend and the foraminous surface of the shank 20, open communication isestablished between the interior of the hollow building wall and theexterior atmosphere, through the channel 16.

In this form of the invention, the shank 20 may be formed of woven wirescreening or woven synthetic filament of sufiicient inherent rigidity,when formed into its tubular shape, to sustain the stresses involved inforcing the shank through the opening 14, in which it fits quite snugly,and into the hollow interior of the wall 11, whether or not fibrousinsulating material is present within the wall. As shown in Fig. 2, theouter end of the shank 20 is formed'to provide an integral,radially-inturned flange 21; and a rivet 22, carried by the head 19,projects beyond said flange, carries a washer 23, and is headed over toclamp the flange 21 between the washer 23 and the inner face of the head19.

The countersink 17 is so proportioned and designed that the head 19 isreceived snugly therein with its outer face substantially flush with theouter face of the lapboard 13. I presently believe that no specialfastening means will be required to hold the unit 18 in place,particularly since paint will be spread over the outer face of the head19 at the time when the lapboard is painted, and the paint itself, whenset, will assist friction in holding the unit in place;

The fact that the lower end of the channel 16, opening through the loweredge 15 of the lap-board 13, is the only part of the vent passage fromthe interior of the walI which directly communicates with the atmosphereprovides, of course, against the direct entry of rain or snow, throughthe vent passage, to the interior of the wall; and the screening fromwhich the shank 20 is formed acts, of course, to prevent insects fromentering the wall.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a modified form of shank 20' 'closely similar tothe shank 20. Its flange 21', however,

is welded to the inner surface of the head 19', instead of being securedthereto through means such as the rivet 22 and the washer 23 If theshank 20 is made of metallic wire screen, of course the head 19 willalso be made of metal, and the weld will be the usual heat-producedmetal weld. If the shank is made of synthetic filaments, however, thehead 19 also will be made of suitable synthetic plastic, and the weldbetween the head 19' and the flange 21' will be a so-called plasticweld.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a shank 24 made from perforated sheet materialwhich, like the shank 20 or 20', may be either metal or syntheticplastic. A flange 25 is radially inturned at the outer end of the shank24, and may be secured to a head (not shown) in any suitable fashion,such as that shown in Fig. 2 or that shown in Fig. 5.

While I believe the arrangement of Figs. 2 to 5 to be optimum, it may bethat, in practice, the accurate formation of the countersink 17 will bediflicult. In Fig. 7, I have shown a modified form of unit comprising adiscoid head 26 and a shank 27, the shank 27 being identical with anyone of the shanks 20, 20 or 24 hereinabove discussed. The head 26, onthe other hand, will be formed to provide a planar inner surface 28 anda convex outer surface 29. The term convex, in this connection, is usedbroadly to include any type of transverse curvature or angulationwhereby the thickness of the head diminishes gradually from the centerthereof to the peripheral region, where the outer surface 29 meets theinner surface 28 in a thin edge 30. I presently believe that, when paintis spread over the head 29, the unit of Fig. 7 will be satisfactorilyheld in place without further securing means; but if desired, tacks orspurs 31 may be arranged to project integrally from the inner surface 28of the head 26, as shown.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a hollow building wall including an outersurface of lap-board construction formed with one or more perforationsthrough said outer surface, each such perforation being located whollyabove the lower edge of a lap-board, and said wall further being formedwith a channel for each such perforation leading from such perforationand opening' through the lower edge of such lap-board, of a vent unitcomprising a closed, discoid head and a foraminous, tubular shanksupported on, and projecting substantially perpendicularly from, onesurface of said head, the shank of one such unit being snugly seated ineach such perforation and the head of each such unit abutting theassociated lap-board and overlying the associated channel.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said shank of each such unit isformed of reticular material and is provided at one end with a radiallyinturned, peripheral flange secured to said head.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which each such flange is welded tosaid head.

4. The combination of claim 2 including a rivet passing through said oneend of said shank of each such unit and through said head to secure saidshank to said head.

5. The combination of claim 2 including a rivet secured to said head ofeach such unit and a washer engaging that surface of said flange remotefrom said 6. The combination of claim 1 in which the other surface ofsaid head of each such unit is convex and meets said one surface in athin, peripheral edge.

7. The combination of claim 1 in which said shank of each such unit isformed of perforated sheet metal.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which said shank of each such unit isprovided at one end with a radially inturned, peripheral flange securedto said head.

9. The combination of claim 1 in which the dimensions of said head ofeach such unit, transversely of the axis of said shank, exceed thecorresponding dimensions of said shank.

10. The combination with a hollow building wall including an outersurface of lap-board construction formed with one or more perforationsthrough said outer surface, each such perforation being located whollyabove the lower edge of a lap-board, and said wall further being formedwith a channel for each such perforation leading from such perforationand opening through the lower edge of such lap-board, of a forarninoustube snugly seated in each such perforation, and a discoid head securedto the outer end of said tube, abutting said lap-board, and overlyingthe associated channel.

.11. The combination of claim 10 in which said head is countersunk insaid lap-board with its outer face substantially flush with the outersurface of said lapboard.

12. The combination of claim 10 in which the outer face of said head isconvex and meets the inner face thereof in a thin, peripheral edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS738,643 Van Camp Sept. 8, 1903 1,765,651 Bryant June 24, 1930 2,403,318Weseman July 2, 1946 2,505,147 Scallon Apr. 25, 1950 OTHER REFERENCESPrinted publication-Circular published by Cornwall and Co., 1408 East22nd Street, Cleveland, Ohio, 4 pages. (Copy received in Patent OfiiceOctober 3, 1950.)

Circular by Damp Vent Co., Bettendorf, Iowa, one

' page, March 27, 1952.

